The HP Chromebook x2 11 is a very different model from the Chromebook 11 that launched a few years back. This is an upper mid-range Chromebook 2-in-1 with a high resolution 3:2 1440p touchscreen powered by the relatively uncommon Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen. 1 SoC. Originally announced for $599 USD, the model has since fallen in price to under $400 USD via retailers like Best Buy.
Chromebook detachables are not that common with the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 10 being one of the few examples. Nonetheless, Chromebook convertibles are a dime a dozen including the Asus Chromebook Flip, Acer Chromebook Spin, Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5, Dell Latitude 7410 Chromebook, or Samsung Galaxy Chromebook.
The metal chassis is strong and comparable to the Surface Pro series in terms of rigidity. The rear kickstand is detachable unlike on the Surface Pro to help reduce weight even further for owners who prefer to use the Chromebook purely as a tablet. The detachable keyboard, however, is too flimsy and of lower quality when compared to the more solid kickstand or tablet.
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Only two USB-C ports are available with no 3.5 mm audio jack. Each USB-C port is capable of charging and video-out for connecting external monitors.
Transfer rates with the integrated MicroSD reader are relatively slow. Moving 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II test card to desktop takes about 29 seconds.
We're able to reach real-world WLAN speeds of up to ~440 Mbps when paired to our Netgear RAX200 test router. Our unit would have trouble maintaining higher transmit speeds even after repeat tests.
4G LTE and nano-SIM are optional depending on the configuration. The model does not support 5G.
Camera quality is sharp and uniform around the edges and corners even if colors are shallow and not very accurate. There is no integrated flash.
Unlike many other tablet 2-in-1s, the Chromebook x2 11 comes standard with the keyboard base and rear kickstand. The rechargeable ISU pen is optional and only included with certain SKUs.
The standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies.
The detachable keyboard base looks great from a distance, but it handles poorly during use. Its deck flexes more easily than the keyboard detachable for the Surface series meaning the whole base almost always teeters and bounces whenever a key is pressed. Key feedback suffers as a result for an overall poor typing experience. You'd be better off with a generic Bluetooth or USB keyboard which will indubitably have firmer keys than the included keyboard attachment.
There is no keyboard backlight likely to save on costs.
Cursor control on the decently sized clickpad (11 x 6 cm) works reliably with no jumping or skipping. Clicking, however, is very shallow and with weak and unsatisfying feedback. Multi-touch inputs like drag-and-drop are therefore more difficult to perform than they should be.
The 1440p 3:2 touchscreen is a highlight of the Chromebook x2 11. Contrast is excellent at about 1000:1 and colors are both bright and vivid especially when compared to much cheaper 768p panels like on the Acer Chromebook Spin 311. Black-white response times are on the slow side which is to be expected from any Chromebook with an IPS panel at the time of writing. If you plan on streaming a lot of games, then the OLED Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook or Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and their significantly faster response times might be worth considering.
Our X-Rite colorimeter measurements confirm a well-calibrated sRGB display with average grayscale and color deltaE values of just 1.9 and 1.48, respectively. This is one of the most accurate IPS panels we've seen on any Chromebook regardless of price.
In comparison: 52 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 21792 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.
At over 400 nits, the display is brighter than on many cheaper Chromebooks where 200 to 300 nits is common. Outdoor visibility is subsequently better than average when under shade. Some glare will always be present and direct sunlight should still be avoided.
Chrome OS runs mostly smooth on the Snapdragon 7c-powered tablet. The system tends to chug momentarily when switching between tabs or when launching applications. The frame skips are short, but they are noticeable nonetheless especially after extended use.
4K video playback at 60 FPS is poor. Our minute-long YouTube test video would return over 2000 dropped frames whereas this same test on most Intel-powered Ultrabooks would return 0 dropped frames. You may want to think twice about using this tablet for 4K video playback. 1080p video is otherwise smooth for the native resolution of the touchscreen.
It's worth mentioning that the system ships with the first generation Snapdragon 7c SoC instead of the newer second generation Snapdragon 7c. HP says this was due to the timing between the development of the Chromebook x2 11 and the availability of the Qualcomm chips.
Transfer rates are decent considering the price point and target applications. Higher-end Chromebooks like the Dell Latitude 7410 can offer 2x to 4x the SSD performance of our HP tablet.
Graphics performance is most similar to the ARM Mali-G57 MP2 in the inexpensive MediaTek Dimensity 700. Thus, the Chromebook x2 11 has more in common with cheap Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy A22 in terms of graphics power than say an iPad or Galaxy S Tab. Attempting to run Genshin Impact would result in constant frame skips and audio glitches to be nearly unplayable.
Temperatures are warmest near the back center where the surface can reach over 42 C as shown by the temperature maps below. Results are almost as warm as on the new Microsoft Surface Go 3 with Windows 11.
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84 dB) Bass 100 - 315 Hz (-) | nearly no bass - on average 26.4% lower than median (+) | bass is linear (6.7% delta to prev. frequency) Mids 400 - 2000 Hz (±) | higher mids - on average 6.1% higher than median (+) | mids are linear (6.4% delta to prev. frequency) Highs 2 - 16 kHz (±) | higher highs - on average 8.3% higher than median (+) | highs are linear (6.9% delta to prev. frequency) Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz (±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25.2% difference to median) Compared to same class » 79% of all tested devices in this class were better, 3% similar, 18% worse » The best had a delta of 5%, average was 20%, worst was 53% Compared to all devices tested » 78% of all tested devices were better, 5% similar, 16% worse » The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB) Bass 100 - 315 Hz (±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median (±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency) Mids 400 - 2000 Hz (+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median (+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency) Highs 2 - 16 kHz (+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median (+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency) Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz (+) | overall sound is linear (9.3% difference to median) Compared to same class » 3% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 97% worse » The best had a delta of 7%, average was 18%, worst was 50% Compared to all devices tested » 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 97% worse » The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%
The system is very power efficient and most similar to the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet with the Helio P60T. At most, we're able to record just under 11 W when gaming or running extreme processing loads while typical browsing loads will demand only about 4 to 7 W. The difference between the minimum and maximum brightness settings is about 4 W.
We're able to squeeze just under 9.5 hours of real-world WLAN use on the 150-nit brightness setting which is a bit short from HP's claim of 11 hours.
Charging from empty to full capacity is very fast at only about 60 minutes due to the small 32 Wh battery. The 45 W USB-C AC adapter can be used to charge other USB-C devices or laptops as well.
The best aspects of the Chromebook x2 11 are its touchscreen, excellent build quality, and removable kickstand. The bright display is well-calibrated with full sRGB coverage and high contrast to easily beat any Chromebook 2-in-1 in this sub $400 USD price range. Both the tablet and kickstand are of high quality as well with minimal flexing and a strong hinge, respectively. The chassis is definitely closer to a professional ElitePad rather than a cheap Pavilion tablet.
You'll want to exploit the bright and color accurate 11-inch touchscreen and USI pen to make the most of the ultralight Chromebook x2 11. Otherwise, a more standard Chromebook convertible like the Samsung Galaxy or Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 can offer a superior typing experience.
The worst aspect of the model is the included keyboard base which flexes far too easily when typing. Feedback is spongy and the shallow clickpad is equally unsatisfying. Be prepared to have your own keyboard and mouse ready if you plan on typing a lot.
Best Buy is currently stocking the HP Chromebook x2 11 for a sale price of $399 USD. Users can also purchase the model directly from HP for $479 USD.
HP Chromebook x2 11-da0023dx - 2021-10-20 10/20/2021 v7 Allen Ngo